Over 50% of Lankan prisoners sentenced for drug charges, return for same reason – Minister

ECONOMYNEXT –Half of Sri Lanka’s prisoners have been put behind bars for drug charges,  State Minister for Justice and Prison Anuradha Jayarathne said.

The total number of suspects and accused in prisons across the country is currently at 28,468. Out of this, 50.3 percent of the prisoners account for drug-related charges, Jayarathne told a media briefing on Thursday (10) in Colombo.

“After the court sentence is over, these inmates go back to the environment they used to. So over and over again they tend to be jailed for drug related offenses” Jayarathne said.

Sri Lanka has 55 prisons including open and closed jails.The highest number of drug inmates are in the Western and Southern provinces, the official data showed.The focus is currently on putting them into a program that combines skills and repetition to prevent drug activities,” Jayarathne said.